Saxon Sails to Top of Tour Modifieds

In the first two weeks of the NASCAR iRacing.com Tour Modified (NiTM) Series, Nathan Saxon has put the field on notice that he will be a contender for the title in 2012 Season Four.

Saxon took top honors in the standings over the first week of the season at New Smyrna Speedway and followed it up with a strong podium run at Richmond International Raceway in Week Two. Saxon has been a member of the service since mid-2011, boasts a 4000+ iRating as of press time, is a member of Road Runner Racing team and spent 2012 Season Three focusing on the SK Modified division.

The NiTMS hit the ground running at New Smyrna and Richmond.

Saxon’s Week One point total of 128 came during a 2104 strength of field (sof) race on November 3rd in which he took the checkered flag over 11 other peers. Saxon led wire-to-wire in the 100-lap online race, finishing ahead of Thomas Zinninger, Brett Newberry, Michael Morrison2 and Mike Testa. Zinninger’s 116 point total from the week also came from this race, placing him third overall of 45 sim-racers who participated in official races at New Smyrna Speedway.

Mitch Miller was impressive in Week One with three wins in as many starts. His biggest came on October 30th during an 1865 sof race. Six cautions slowed the event, but couldn’t slow the pace of Miller as he led 32 of the 100 laps en route to the win. Mike Littlefield finished second after leading 64 laps in the race with Sean Ross, Brian Lowe and Brent Thompson rounding out the top five. A total of 17 drivers started the race. The race gave Littlefield enough points (109) to secure fourth overall for the week while Miller would wind up the first round with 117 markers.

Top qualifying time for the week went to Littlefield with a 16.329 second lap around the Florida high banks with Miller and Saxon second and third. Samuel Dick topped the Time Trial standings over Miller and Saxon.

Week Two took the series to the Richmond International Raceway and topping the charts after a week of racing in Virginia was Brett Osborn. The Tour Modified veteran took home a 2202 sof race on November 6th by leading all 100 laps from the pole position. Three yellow flags slowed the race over 15 laps. Michael Morrison2 was second, followed by Justin Chase, Ron Scheyd and William Kabela. Osborn put 134 points on the board for the victory.

Littlefield captured second on the week with a 128 point win at Richmond on November 6th. Littlefield led 52 of the 100 laps in the win, edging out Saxon, Morrison2, Brett Newberry and David Chmura for the victory in the 2079 sof race, which featured 14 cars and three cautions.

Saxon went on to win a 2092 sof race on November 10th with a shorter nine car field but no shortage of competition was seen with nine lead changes taking place amongst the top three drivers with the eventual winner leading 23 laps. Morrison2 finished second after leading a majority of the laps (74) with TJ Graves, Jeremy Neal and Chuck Shaw Jr rounding out the fast five in the event, which saw the Week One winner pocket 125 points.

Miller is off to a strong start and holds-down P5 in the championship after the first two weeks of the season.

When it came to qualifying, it was Dick taking the top spot at a 20.063 second lap over Osborn and Saxon. Osborn struck gold in Time Trials with the top spot over Dick and Miller. Dick will lead the Time Trial standings heading into Week Three at Lanier.

In the overall standings, it’s the New England Club driver Saxon on top with 253 points, 16 points up on second place overall and Division Two leader Littlefield. Morrision2 and Zinninger, both of whom also compete in Division Two are third and fourth overall at 213 and 209 points respectively with Miller completing the top five at 206 points. Divisional leaders from Divisions Three to Eight include Chmura, Sean Albright, Neal, Chet Wheeler Jr., Kyle L Moquin and Ricky Heinan.

Next up for the NASCAR iRacing Tour Modified division is the tight Georgia confines of the Lanier National Speedway. Can Saxon continue up his strong start or can a Tour Modified veteran come in and steal his thunder? Find out here as the results pour in over the season on inRacingNews!

Until next time, keep the hammer down and we’ll see you at the track!

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